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Tokyo - The Japanese press reported Monday that Japanese Foreign Minister Yoriko Kawaguchi announced an agreement with China for an annual conference with South Korean, Japanese and Chinese Foreign Ministers. At a press conference with Japanese reporters, Kawaguchi said that they agreed to open a Foreign Ministers¡¯ meeting once a year, at a conference with Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao and Chinese counterpart Li Zhaoxing.
Korean government officials commented on the announcement saying, ¡°The regularization of the three countries¡¯ Foreign Ministers¡¯ Conference follows the agreement on the early establishment of a ¡®Korea, China, Japan Three-Party Committee,¡¯ which was made at the summit conference between President Roh Moo-hyun, Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao. Currently, the site of the first conference and related matters are under discussion, so details will be finalized in the next few months.¡±
The conference will be independent of ASEAN, APEC and other international councils and if implemented, it will be the first conference among the three countries.
Meanwhile, Kawaguchi abandoned a plan to hold mutual exchange visits for both countries¡¯ summits, something she has been promoting until now. Japanese media reported that Chinese State Councilor Tang Jiaxuan said at a meeting with Kawaguchi that ¡°the past aggressive war¡± had severely damaged China and forced millions of Asians to sacrifice everything and repeatedly requested that Prime Minister Koizumi halt his visits to Tokyo's Yasukuni Shrine.
(Choi Heup, pot@chosun.com )
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